Bloomberg News

Ford Says Fusion Ads Stress Styling in Challenge to Camry

Ford Motor Co. (F:US)’s Fusion sedan, with
styling evocative of an Aston Martin, is being promoted with an
ad blitz that suggests its beauty makes competitors disappear.

The second-largest U.S. automaker is debuting three
television commercials for its best-selling car, Ford said in a
statement. In one spot, other cars on the road become invisible
as the Fusion drives by. In another, a Fusion drives off a cliff
to show “the one thing” the car can’t do, Ford said. The third
shows Fusion moving forward while other cars back up.

The ads “will showcase how Ford is shaking up the bland
mid-size sedan segment,” Jim Farley, the company’s global
marketing chief, said in the statement.

Ford is counting on the redesigned Fusion to challenge
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s Camry, the perennial top-selling car in the
U.S. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford has loaded new technology
into the 2013 Fusion, which went on sale last month, and will
stress that its hybrid version gets 47 miles (76 kilometers) per
gallon, more than the Camry hybrid.

“Fusion last year set a sales record and with this new
family of vehicles, we believe we can build on that success,”
Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally told reporters after
introducing the new Fusion at the Detroit auto show in January.
“I think we really will be preferred in that” mid-size car
segment.

The new Fusion ads will air on prime-time network
programming and sporting events, the company said. Ford didn’t
say how much it’s spending on Fusion advertising.

Fusion, Camry

Fusion sales fell 30 percent in the U.S. last month to
12,690 vehicles. So far this year, Fusion sales are up 0.2
percent to 206,855, according to researcher Autodata Corp.

Toyota sold 344,714 Camry models in the U.S. this year
through October, up 37 percent, Autodata said. Camry sales rose
36 percent last month to 29,926 vehicles, according to Autodata.

Fusion sales fell last month because Ford has only about 25
percent of the inventory it needs to meet demand, Amy Marentic,
group marketing manager, told reporters in Dearborn today. The
company hopes to have full inventory by December, she said.
Fusion models are staying on dealer lots an average of nine days
before they are sold, a fast turn rate, she said.

“We’re still building up inventory,” Marentic said
following a media briefing on the new ads. “We have about 9,000
of the new ones in inventory.”

Adding Capacity

When Ford adds a shift of Fusion production at a Michigan
factory next year, the automaker will have the capacity to build
400,000 models a year, Marentic said. Last year, Ford sold a
record 248,067 Fusions in the U.S.

A smooth introduction for the Fusion might help Ford
rebound from technology glitches that have lowered the
automaker’s quality scores.

Ford’s MyFord Touch dashboard computer touch screens have
been criticized for performing poorly and distracting drivers.
Ford’s namesake brand fell seven spots to second-to-last place
in Consumer Reports’ annual auto-reliability survey, the
magazine said last month. The Ford brand fell to 27th this year
in Westlake Village, California-based J.D. Power & Associates’
new-car quality survey, from fifth two years ago.

Ford in March sent a software upgrade to 377,000 customers
with the MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch dashboard controls.
The upgrade, which included faster touch responses, simpler
graphics, enhanced voice recognition and better phone controls,
didn’t arrive in time to improve this year’s J.D. Power scores.

The Fusion has the latest version of MyFord Touch, and the
automaker has added regular control knobs for radio volume and
tuning and for heat and air conditioning.

Ford fell 0.7 percent to $11.17 at the close in New York.
The shares (F:US) have risen 3.8 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Keith Naughton in Dearborn, Michigan, at
knaughton3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jamie Butters at
jbutters@bloomberg.net